Distractions
by lostinthewords
Summary: She closed the distance between them, smiling into the kiss. He's always been so good at undressing her but that's not what she had in mind for tonight. At least not right now, first she had a story to tell him. Post 3x03


_A/N: This came to me after tonight's episode. I needed some more Henry and Elizabeth scenes and Henry needed some cheering up so this is the result. Wrote this pretty quickly sorry for any mistakes I missed while rereading it._

She held on tightly; reveling in the fact she was able to hold him in her arms. She was so grateful for Jose and Doherty stopping him from doing something stupid. She knew he was a former marine, it was his instinct to protect others but she still worried about him. Just a few weeks ago he was mugged on a street, she couldn't imagine what could have happened if he had confronted Ray. Would she have been called down the hospital again? Her heart stopped at the thought, he was not allowed any more hospital visits. He reached his quota for the year.

She squeezed before gently releasing him. "Come on, let's go to bed." They both needed a distraction to calm their fear and she had the perfect one. She gave him a playful look, "I've got something that will take your mind off of everything."

His hands moved to her shoulders, peeling her robe off. She closed the distance between them, smiling into the kiss. He's always been so good at undressing her but that's not what she had in mind for tonight. At least not right now, first she had a story to tell him.

"Babe," she says against his lips, her hand on his chest between them. "I love where this is going but not what I was referring to."

She raised her eyebrow at his pout. Her fingers hooked with his and led him to the bed. His fingers ran along her thigh, the need to touch to her, a reminder she was safe for now.

Amusement replaced the fear in her eyes. "You will never guess what Russell laid into me about."

He stared at her in disbelief, when did Russell yelling at her ever become a good thing?

"You know I've been dealing with China this week. Well, one thing led to another and they ended up threatening to take back their pandas."

"Pandas?" Henry asked, not sure where this story was heading but if she planned to confuse him to distract him then it was working.

"Pandas," She repeated. "I was in a meeting with Daisy when Russell comes barging in like usual. Poor Blake, I know he's just doing his job but really it's futile at this point. Anyways Russell comes in and announces 'we're not sending them back.'" She threw her hands up, "When I questioned him about it he acted like I should know and he tells me the pandas."

"Russell is a fan of the Pandas?"

"Oh, he's not just any fan he's a super fan. I mean it; he started listing them by name."

"No, he did not?"

"Oh yes. He proceeded to go on about drawing a line the sand; according to him that line is pandas."

Henry shrugged, "A man has to stand up for something."

"Clearly. He then brings up the election and how a million people go to the national zoo to see the pandas and if we give them back we will lose those voters."

"He did not?"

"He did! The whole time he's yelling and pointing his finger at Daisy and I. At one-point Daisy had to lean back because he got so close to her. He goes on and on about how losing these pandas will negatively affect the U.S. He finishes with-" She furrowed her brow and pointed her finger at Henry, her voiced deepened in her best Russell impersonation. "-Not on my watch lady! It is not happening."

Henry's laughed filled the room and her heart. Their anxiety replaced with delight.

"I may have proceeded to poke the bear…"

"The panda bear?"

Elizabeth laughed, she was glad Henry was making jokes, even if they were bad ones. That meant he was calming down.

"If you want to call Russell a panda bear then yes. I pointed out that maybe in this whole mess maybe pandas aren't the real issue here. And this is when it got even better."

"It gets better?" She lightly smacked his chest at his mocking.

"Do you want to hear the rest or not?"

"I'm sorry, continue."

"He walks over to me, you know when he's mad and suddenly there's not personal bubble anymore." Henry nodded that he understood and for her to continue. "He then let it slip that he knows about the panda cam and when it is turned off the children will blame their parents who will in return blame us. The last thing he says is 'China gets it.'"

"All of that over some black and white bears?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I almost forgot! Right before he walked out Matt asked him if he was a panda camer too. Russell made some comment about it being relaxing and good for his blood pressure."

"I bet," he said, shaking his head as he laughed. He hated to admit it, but the story took his mind off their current problem. He's heard some crazy Russell stories over the years but usually he was blaming his wife for something that was not her fault. Okay, sometimes it was but he still always hated it, no one was allowed to yell at her.

They climbed under the covers, exhaustion from the day taking over.

"Henry, I'm sorry." She whispered into the dark.

He reached for her hand, "It's not your fault babe."

"But what if it is. It isn't fair to the kids; it isn't fair to you. Our family is scared 24/7 probably because of my job."

"First of all, that doesn't make it your fault. The only person responsible is whoever is behind it. Second, we don't know that it is because of your job. You can't put that on yourself."

He rolled over, their faces inches apart. Even through the darkness he saw she didn't believe him. He kicked himself mentally, knew it was partly because of their conversation the other day. He hated whenever she doubted herself, even more when it was because of something he said in the heat of the moment. He never doubted her for a second, not in the 26 years they've been together.

"I'm sorry for implying it was."

"You already apologized, don't worry about it."

"But you don't believe it. I will never stop reminding you until you do."

"I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
